Ironing machine



Feb. 13, 11923. 1,444,823

E. L. YORK IRONINC- MACHINE Filed Apr. 19', 1920 2 sheets-sheet 1 flaydrz. fork.

Feb, 13, 1923.,

E. L. YORK IRONING MACHINE Filed Apr. 19, 1920 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Feb. 13, 19 23.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR L. YORK, 0F PEORIA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO OASIS MANUFACTURING (30., OF

PEORIA, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION.

IRONING MACHINE.

Application filed. April 19,

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EDGAR L. YORK, a citizen of the United States. and a resident of Peoria, in the county f Peoria and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ironing Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification. My invention relates to machines primarily intended for family use and which comprise a rotating cylinder against which an ironing element .is held, the clothes or other articles to be ironed passing between the cylinder and ironing element. i

One object of my inventionv is the provision of d-isengageable and reversible driving mechanism for the cylinder of the ma chine.

Another object of my invention is the provision of means whereby the ironing ele ment may be held in proper relation to on; cylinder, and the provision of means whereby the ironing element may be moved a considerable distance from the cylinder so that the operating face of the ironing element may be reached for cleaning or waxing, as desired.

Another object of my invention is the provision of an attachment to the machine whereby collars or other articles may be ironed, the attachment being so mounted and arranged that it may be driven from the driving mechanism of the machine and may be employed to iron articles which, owing to their shape may not be satisfactorily ironed by the main ironing cylinder and its ironing element. I

Another object of my invention is the provision of a spraying device for sprinkling the goods to be ironed before the ironing operation. i

Other objects of my invention will appear and be described in the specification.

The novelty of my invention will be here inafter more fully described and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 Sheet 1 is an end elevation of a machine embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 Sheet 1 is arear elevation of the right end'of the machine.

Fig. 3 Sheet 1 is an enlarged view of the ironing element supporting mechanism.

1920. Serial No. s74,sa2.'

this view being turned to its true position v as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 7 Sheet 2 is a view corresponding to Fig. 6'but taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5, the driving pulley and some of the other parts being omitted. 1

Fig. 8 Sheet 2 is an enlarged end view of the driving mechanism for the spraying device, the view being taken on a plane approximately coinciding with the inner face of the driving pulley of the machine.

Fig. 9 Sheet 2 is an enlarged detail of the disengageable tension device for theauxiliary iron attachment.

The same charactersof reference are used to indicate identical parts in all the figures.

In its preferred form of construction my machine comprises end members 1 which form the legs for supporting the machine and to which the various other parts of the and that trunnion which has its bearing in g the right member 1, when viewed from the front is provided with a worm-wheel 8, the worm-wheel 8' and trunnion 7 and cylinder 6 being shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

A gear case 9 is mounted on the member 1 and by referring to Fig. 5 it will be seen that this gear case contains a worm 10 which meshes with the worm-wheel 8, and is mounted on a shaft 11, the shaft being journaled in the gear case 9 and preferably provided with ring oilers bevel gears 13 are mounted free to turn on' the shaft 11 and each carries a series of clutch jaws 14: which are adapted to be engaged by jaws 15 carried by a spool 16 which is feather keyed as at 17 to the shaftll, the spool 16 being adapted to be shifted so that its clutch jaws engage 12. A pair of duplicate 'mechanism comprising a crank arm 18 carried on "a shaft which is journaled the boss 19 of the gear case 9, a crank arm 20 being also mounted u'ponthis shaft to the end that the operation of the crank arm 20 will shift the spool 16, the crank arm 18 being-better shown in Fig. 7. v

A'driving pinion 21 meshes with both of the gears 13-and,is mounted upon a shaft 22 which. lso carries the driving pulley 23, the shaft 22 being journaled 1n ia bracket 24 which is suitably attached to'the gear case 9. Referringagain to Figs. 1 and 2 the pul ley 23 is protected'by a uard 25 which extends to a motor 26 an encloses the 'dl'lV- ingbelt from the motor to the driving pulbracket27 mounted upon the end member 1 and carries small ironing cylinder 28 above which an ironing element 29 is mounted as by the arm 30 which is provided with a handle 310 so that the ironing element 29 may be raised or lowered by the operator. The arm 3O is pivotally mounted 25 as at 31 on the bracket 27 and is provided with a tension device which comprises a spring 32 which bears against a bifurcated lug 33 and surrounding an eye bolt 34 which is pivotally connected to a lug 35 of the '30 bracket 27 and is providedwith a wing nut '36, which as shown more clearly in Fig. 9 is provided with a collar 37 which is of greater length than the thickness of the lug 23 and 1 bears against a washer 38 above the spring 35 32 to the end that thespring 32 may be compressed to relieve its tension from the arm 30 whereupon the eyebolt 34 may be swung 'rearwardly to disengage the lug 33 so that the arm 30 and the ironing element 29 may 40 (be raised substantially to a vertical position: The bracket 27 carries a gear case 39 within which a bevel gear 40 is mounted, the

Y gear 40 driving the cylinder 28 and being driven by a pinion 41 which 'is carried on the vertical shaft 42, this shaft being shown in section in Fig. 5 and a portion of it in elevation in Fig. 6.

The shaft 42 carries a sp-lined worm wheel 43 which engages a worm 44 onthe shaft 11 but which may be disengaged therefrom by being raised until the pin 45 (Fig. 6) passes through the, slot 46 of the cover of the. gear case whereupon the worm wheel 43 may be turned to bring the pin 45 in contact with the cover of the gear case'thus disengaging the worm wheel 43 from the worm 44, a

spring 47 being mounted upon the shaft 42 and bearing against the upper end of the hub of the worm wheel 43 and a collar 48 (Flgs. 1 and 2) on the shaft 42, the constructionbeing such that when it is desired to reengage the driving connections for theshaft 42, it is only necessaryto turn the worm wheel 43 until its pin 45 comes to the slot 46 e5 ,whereupon the spring 47 will cause and -it upon the clothes.

maintain the engagement between the worm wheel and the worm.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 8 an eccentric 49 ismounted free to turn upon the bracket 24 and held in place by a collar 59, the eccentric 49 being provided with a driving lug 51 which is adapted to be engaged by a key 52 mounted between a pair of guides 53 carried within the cone shaped portion of the 1 driving pulley 23 and operated by a buttona 54 which extends to the outside of the cone, the construction and operation of these parts being such that when the key 52 is in the position shown in Fig. 5 it will engage the lug 51 of the eccentric 49 thereby turning ameter, of the cone portion of the pulley .23, turned, andthat when the key 52 is moved between theguides 53 toward the small diameter of the cone portion of the pulley -23, it-will release the lug 51 of the eccentric 49 so that the driving pulley 23 may be. turned without engaging the eccentric 49.

The eccentric 49 operates an eccentric rod 55 which is connected to the cross head 56 of an air pump 57 (Fig. 5), the discharge from the air pump as shown in Fig. 1 being conducted through hose 58 to an atomizer 59, the atomizer being provided with a suction hose 60-which is adapted to be placed in a bucket of water so that when the valve 61 of the atomizer 59 is operated, the air- -passing through the nozzle of the device will raise, the water from the bucket and spray The machine is preferably provided with two pedals 62 and 63, the pedal 62 being attached to the square brace rod'5, at a point intermediate its ends, the rod 5 carrylng a crank arm 64 adjacent each of the end members 1. Each of the crank arms has a 10 connecting rod 65 attached. thereto, the connecting rod 65 extending to and being connected with the bell crank 66 which is pivotally mounted as at 67 (Fig. 1) upon the end member 1 and operates a rod 68 which is provided with an adjusting nut 69 which rests against the lower portion 70 of a bell crank 71, this bell crank and the 75 upon the supporting "arm 76, this arm being pivotally mounted as at 77 on the axis of movement of the bell crank 71, the upper end of the arm 76 engaging a trunnion 78 carried by the ironing element 79 which, when the parts are in the position rests against the cylinder 6, being held in contact therewith by the tension of the spring 72 through the medium of the latch and mountings previously described.

It frequently happens that it is necessary shown in Fig. 3,

to release the ironing element from its conturn on the rod 4, the latch member being the arms whereupon the shaped as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 and being provided with a detent 82 which is adapted to engage the lug when the pedal 62 reaches the dotted position 83 thus compressing the spring 72 moving the ironing element 79 away from the cylinder 6'and latching it in this position.

To release the latch 81 the pedal 62'is quickly depressed froni the dotted position 83 to the dotted position 84 whereupon the lug 80 throws the latch 81 to the dotted position 85 and permits the pedal 62 to be quickly raised to a position just above the detent 82 -whereupon it may be further raised until the ironing element has again resumed the position shown in Fig. 3.

The movement produced in the ironing element by the connections just described is only sufiicient to freely release the'material which is being passed through the machine, so that the material may be-drawn back or so that a portion of it may be passed through the machine without being ironed. To move .the ironing element from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3 to the position shown in dotted lines, the pedal 62 is depressed and the latch 81 engaged thus slightly compressing the spring 72 and removing its tension from the ironing element latch 74 may be operated, of theselatches at each end of the machine, the latches being c onnected together for simultaneous operation by the there being one rod 86 of Fig. 2 which is connected to the free ends of the latches and forms a handle for their simultaneous operation, whereupon when the latches 74have been disengaged from the upper end of the bell cranks'7l, the arms 76 may be swung upon their pivot 77', each of the arms '7 6 carrying a quadrant 87 which acts as a movement limit by-coming in contact with the bell crank 71 when 76 and the parts which they carry reach the dotted position shown in Fig. 3.

Each arm 76 carries a trunnion 88 which engages a recess 89 in the end of the ironing element 79, the recess 89 being'larger than the trunnion 88 to the-end that the ironing element has a restricted pivotal movement on itstrunnions 78 so that it will properly conform in position to the surface of the cylinder 6 even though that surface may be slightly eccentric or the material passing through thickness, the function accomplished by this portion of the structure being to prevent a localization of the pressure of the ironing element upon any inequality of the surface of the cylinder 6.

It is to be noted that when the ironing element is in the dotted position shown in Fig. 3, it has been moved suflicient distance to permit the operator to clean its ironing surface if desired. 4

The ironing element may be restored to its operative position by grasping the rod 86 and raising it and the parts to which it is connected to bring the latches 74 into engagement with the upper ends of the bell cranks 71 whereupon the pedal 62 may be operated as previously described to release the latch 81 thus restoring the ironing element toits contact with the cylinder 6.

Each of the. latches 74 carries a spring pocket 90 in which a spring 91 is mounted, the spring bea'ring against a lug 92 which notched to engage a portion of the upper end of the bell crank 71 to stiffen the structure and prevent endwise displacement of the ironing element 79, it' being noted that the upper end ofeachbell crank 71 rests in the notch of the lug 92 when the latch 74 1s carried by the arm 76 this lug being the machine be of varial le\;

is engaged with the upper end of the 'belL, crank so that movement in either direction v of the bell crank 71 on its pivot is imparted to the arm 76.

It is to be noted that each of the ironing elements 79 and 29 are intended to be heated either by steam, gas, electricity, or other suitable means and,v as a means of making the proper connections I have shown an opening 92 through the end of the ironing element 79 and an opening 93 in the rear wall of the ironing element 29. The pedal 63 is mounted free to turn upon the rod 5 and is connected, through the rod 94 with the crank arm 2(),'a compression spring 95, Figs. 1 and 2 bearing against a collar 96 on the rod 94 and against a lug 97 carried by the end member 1 to the end that therod 94 will be held in its uppermost position to cause the engagement of the aws 'of the spool 16 of Fig. 5 with the. forward driving gear 13, it being apparent that by depressing the pedal 63 the spool 16 is shifted to engage the driving jaws of, the rearward driving gear 13 previously described. A latch similar to the latch 81 or a pin98 may be employed to engage the pedal 63 to hold it in a position which will shift thev spool 16 to a neutral-position between the two driving gears 13 to stop the operation of the shaftll and the parts which it drives, the pedal 63 being sufiiciently loosely mounted so that when depressed, it may be shifted si-dewise to come under the pin 98.

When it is desired to operate the atomizer .59, the'pedal 63 may be moved to and latched in its neutral position and the button'54 moved to' operate the key 52 to engage the lug 51 of the eccentric 49, and the motor 26 set in motion whereupon none of the parts of the machine with the excepti n of the air pump 57 will be operated.

After the clothes have been sprinkled the motor is .stopped and the button 54*"1noved in the reverse direction to disengage the ec centric 49 and the heating device in either or both of the ironing elements 79 and 29 is brought into action to heat these elements.

When the proper temperature has been obtained, the motor is again started and the pedal 63 moved tothe forward driving position as shown in Fig. '1 whereupon the clothes are passedfthrough the machine and ironed;

If desired the ironing element 79n1 ay be used and the ironing element 29 not heated until time to iron those garments-which are I ironed. on the cylinder 28 and during-the operation of the cylinder 6, the worm wheel 43 may be disengaged from the worm 44 as previously described and all the power of the machine utilized for driving the cylinder 6;

After the completion of the operations in connection with the cylinder 6, the iron-.

ing element 29 may be heated, the ironing element 7 9 may be disengaged by the operation of the pedal 62. and its supply of heat cut 05, whereupon the worm wheel-43 is In theironing of collars, owing to their several thicknesses and especially those collars which are turned or folded over, greater speed of operation may be obtained by passing the collar back and forth under the ironing element 29 by reversing the machine. To properly finish the folded edge. of the collar, a grooved portion 99 (Fig. 1) is provided on the forward face of the ironing element 29 and. the collar may be passed through this portion to properly round and smooth its edge.

uring the time that the ironing elements are being heated, and at intervals during the operation of the machine, it is advisable that the ironing elements be held from contact with the cylinders, and to-that end the pedal 62 may be latched in its lower position thereb holding the ironing ele- 'ment 79 away rom the cylinder 6. To accomplishthe same result in connection with the ironing element 29, it will be noted that the arm 30 is provided with'a comparatively large bore in its lower end, as shown more clearly in Fig. 9; and an eccentric 100 is mounted within this bore and is provided with an operating handle 101' which extends upwardlyas shown in Figs. 1. and 2., this handle being engaged by a blade spring 102, whichis carried by the arm 30, the pivot 31 previously described. passing through the eccentric 100. The construction and operationof the parts just deg scribed is such that when it is desired to raise the ironing element 29 from contact with. the cylinder 28, the handle 1101 is moved rearwardly and downwardly,'thereby partially rotating the eccentric 100 and thereby raising the lower end ofthe arm 30 and bringing the upper face of the bifurcated lug 33 into contact with the cylinder 28. v

When the tension device for the .arm' 30 has been released so that this arm may be flange of, the wing-nut 36 and raising the l ironingj element 29 from contact with the raised as previously described, to approximately vertical position the handle 101 moves with the arm 30, the blade spring 102 serving as a-means to normally maintain these parts, in the position shown in Figls 1. and 2. with relationto each other.

ying thus fully described my invention, l[ claimz. 5

1. In an ironing machine the combination of a work carrying surface, an ironingfelement cooperating with said surface, yielding means for holding the ironing element against saidsurface, means for over-' coming the yielding holding means to'release the ironing element from contact with v said surface, and means for disengaging the ironing.element from the operation of the yielding holding means whereby the ironing element may be moved a relatively great distance from the work carrying surface. k

2. In an ironing machine the combination of a cylinder, an ironing element cog operating therewith, driving connections for the cylinder, pivotally mounted sup; porting arms for theiironi-ng element, operating arms cooperating with the support ing arms, and a latch carried by one of the "arms whereby when the latch is engaged the arms will operate together and when the latch is disengaged the supporting arms and the ironing element may be moved a considerable distance from the cylinder.

. GAR L. YORK. 

